Living in the past at a one-time Kluge nest
Every place has a history, but the past at some homes looms especially large. In Albemarle County, the name Kluge is synonymous with lavish wealth, wine and, unfortunately, bankruptcy. Locals—and the rest of the country—watched the fortune of Patricia Kluge rise and fall over her three decades or so in town, and a curious byproduct […]
From STEM to STREAM: Charlottesville Catholic School expands the possibilities
Time was, when students at Charlottesville Catholic School wanted to do a science experiment, they’d have to contend with the elements. “Students would be heating minerals over an open flame,” recalls Principal Michael Riley. “They’d use a Petri dish with an alcohol flame. They’d be doing it outside”—because there wasn’t a properly ventilated spot indoors—“and […]
Welcome surprise: In Bundoran, a log cabin comes out of hiding
Talk about a bonus buy: Jeff and Ivy Levien bought a 30-acre parcel at Bundoran Farm in 2012, and only later realized that it came with a historic log cabin. To be precise, the Leviens knew that the building existed, but they figured it for a teardown. Several contractors had concurred with that view, and […]
It’s all in the mix: A traditional house gets a modern facelift
A 1942 Marshall Wells-designed home in tony Farmington: What could be more traditional? Except when it isn’t. For the last three years, designer Kathy Heiner of KLH Designs has been transforming this home in collaboration with its owners, making it a showcase for an eclectic, unfussy style. “This house is all about friends and family,” says […]
Design on display: A Nelson home becomes an art collector’s haven
When Kristen and Glenn Martin dropped their daughter off to begin her college career at the University of Virginia in 2013, they weren’t planning on renovating a house in Nelson County’s Stoney Creek development. But, less two years later, that’s what the Pennsylvania residents found themselves doing. “It was very outdated,” says Glenn of the […]
One step at a time: An Albemarle County landscape takes shape in phases
Time is always a key element in landscape: Plants grow and change, seasons come and go. In some cases, it takes time for a design to bloom, too. That was true at Shady Lawn, a Western Albemarle property where landscape architect Anna Boeschenstein, of Grounded, created a master plan five years ago. Her design is […]
Above it all: Off the parkway, a character of a house
A lovely view is lovely, but a spectacular one might be life-changing. Think we exaggerate? Get ye to Elk Mountain Road in Afton on a clear day, and feast your eyes on the kind of vista that can truly alter your outlook. Number 885, which faces east from a lot just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, […]
A workplace that works: Design co-op settles into the Treehouse
Ten Flavors, a co-op that includes 11 mostly design-related businesses, has been around for about 35 years. Members have come and gone, and the co-op has moved offices several times, always on the Downtown Mall. But Jim Gibson, a longtime co-op member, says the Ten Flavors folks really, really liked their last home, a high-ceilinged […]
A finer farmhouse: Making an 1800s home function for the millennium
This place looks nothing like a hay barn. Yet there was a time, at some point in the early 20th century, when the Somerset farmhouse now belonging to David and Sissy Perdue was in fact used to store hay. Built in the 1880s as a two-over-two home for a family of chicken farmers, the house […]
Time travel: A country landscape spans the centuries
The weekend home of a Washington, D.C., couple sits not quite in the middle of their 76-acre property north of Charlottesville. They didn’t choose the most lofty site for their cottage, but instead gravitated toward a spot that snuggles into a treeline and offers a broad, rolling view of fields and woods. “This was our […]
Vinegar Hill, the sequel: Designing a second life for a beloved theater
When Vinegar Hill Theatre closed its doors in 2013 after 37 years of showing independent films, many cinephiles in Charlottesville mourned its loss. So when the downtown building became the home of Light House Studio in May 2015, says Light House’s Brooks Wellmon, “There was a ton of community interest in preserving the theater.” Light […]
Road warrior: Sizing up potential in a tricky location near the 250 Bypass
The first very important question for would-be buyers of 622 Watson Ave. is this: How much imagination do you have? The question is key because the house, a 1930 foursquare, is ripe for a reno. It’s one of the older houses on the street, and in general it’s not the handsomest feller at the hoedown. […]
Sweet spot: Lynn Easton’s city house revels in a woodsy landscape
The old saw about real estate—“location, location, location”—also sums up what Dean Andrews and Lynn Easton Andrews appreciate about their house. They love the neighborhood, Lewis Mountain; they love the landscape that surrounds their home; and they love the spot it occupies in Charlottesville history. “We are crazy for it,” says Lynn. That’s not to […]
Cabin comfort: The early American house, circa 1990
We’re conditioned to think certain thoughts when we see a log house: wilderness, rugged individualism and bootstraps by which someone is ascending. Yet it’s been a long time since hardy frontier settlers constructed theirs from fresh-felled trees. We never see cabins in cities, but that’s just a convention at this point—modern log homes can be […]
Grounded getaway: The weekend home of a D.C. couple downplays its size
When Jim Burton began designing a weekend home for Burton and Yardly Gray, he took a cue from the direction they’d be traveling to reach the house from their primary home in Washington, D.C. The getaway would be an hour and a half south, and a world apart from the city. Its site, overlooking a […]
Shady place: A tapestry of forest plants on an Albemarle hillside
Even though Cole Burrell has lived and gardened at Bird Hill, his wooded Free Union property, for 17 years, there are still visible signs of the previous owners written into the garden. “I want to honor the place and how it was used by the people who lived here before,” says Burrell, a garden designer […]
Tight market: Inventory is low for vacant urban lots
Scrolling lazily through the MLS, looking for a vacant city lot on which to build your dream home? You can scroll to your heart’s content, but you’re not too likely to nab your quarry. “They don’t come on the market very often at all, but when decent lots do come on the market, they’re gone […]
All together now: Agnor-Hurt is uniting kids, K through 5, in one joyful space
“How do we treat children with as much respect as we treat adults?” That was one of the primary questions driving the design of an addition to Agnor-Hurt Elementary, an Albemarle County public school, last year. Camilo Bearman, the Stantec architect who led the project, loved reaching for that lofty goal. “It’s inspiring as a […]
On a grand scale: A Jim Tuley house takes a broad view
In houses, so much depends on scale. A room that feels big in one house will seem cramped in another; furniture seems to shrink or expand depending on where it’s placed. On a hilltop in Ivy is a home that reaches toward the maximal end of the scale. Inside and out, it feels larger than […]
Bigger and brighter: An Albemarle kitchen lets in the light
Even though Jeannean Carver has lived in her house since 1998, she never had a chance to figure out how to redo her kitchen. A busy pediatrician, she spent years putting off a real renovation, instead making only a few small changes. “I work a lot,” she says. “I didn’t have time to look for […]
Simply beautiful: Making the most of a modest Staunton home
It was an exercise in moderation when Dennis and Ingrid Blanton chose their house in Staunton’s historic Newtown neighborhood. New to the area, freshly arrived from two years in Costa Rica, they began house-shopping and were tempted by some sizable homes. But, says Ingrid, “We wanted to simplify our lives.” At first glance, they’d dismissed […]
Capital improvements: Craftsmanship defines UVA’s Rotunda renovation
A structure as history-soaked as UVA’s Rotunda has many chapters to its story. And, having served as a symbol of the university for nearly 200 years, it’s layered with meaning, too. The Rotunda is currently undergoing a major renovation; much of the exterior will be finished this month, allowing graduates to process around the building during […]
Graceful additions: Built in 1938, Credenhill gets respect (and some thoughtful updates)
In a town with more than its share of notable houses, the home of Bebe Heiner and Bill Atwood is a quiet gem. Hidden at the end of a long driveway in Ivy’s Flordon neighborhood, Credenhill—as it was named by its original owners, after their Welsh hometown—embodies a reserved and gracious sensibility. The pleasing proportions […]
Under the oaks: At Credenhill, updates to a Gillette landscape
How to bring many layers of history together in one contemporary garden design? Credenhill, a 1938 home in Ivy, had a bit of a pedigree attached to it, in the person of noted designer Charles Gillette. The challenge for current owners Bebe Heiner and Bill Atwood was to integrate the original Gillette design—along with subsequent […]
Come together: A Faber kitchen opens its arms to family
Meghan Murray’s house is a family home in a couple of different ways. She grew up in this farmhouse in Faber, built by her grandparents in 1942, on land that’s been in her family for a century. So to occupy it now, as she and her family have for the past year, means that the […]
Hi, tech: WillowTree’s new office promotes a friendlier workday
It used to be the place to perform a tree pose in a superheated room. Now, the one-time Bikram Yoga studio on Fifth Street SE is home to a very different kind of workout—the mental gymnastics of the techies at WillowTree Apps. As a fast-growing firm that creates mobile and TV-integrated apps for clients such […]
The book look: City library addition celebrates the written word
Libraries are the repositories not only of books, but of feelings. There’s the love of a good read, of course, but bookworms harbor other associations with libraries, too: discovery, solitude and the satisfaction of working hard. When architect Bruce Wardell and his colleagues were asked to design a library addition for a Charlottesville homeowner, they […]